Utah - Day 2: Arches National Park

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As the name suggests, Arches National Park hosts over 2000 cataloged natural sandstone arches. This national park is situated on a salt bed. This is the main cause of the rock formations here. This salt bed was deposited over the Colorado Plateau some 300 million years ago. Over the years, the salt bed was covered with residue from water and winds. This movement of salt shaped the earth due to erosion over time in this area. After a long process of water and ice deposits inside the superficial cracks and cavities of sandstone layers, bits and pieces started falling off. Erosion due to water and wind on the remaining rocks changed their shapes and became today's arches.

Most of the formations visible in the park are Entrada Sandstone and Navajo Sandstone. These distinguished layers are visible through out the park. To qualify as an arch, an opening has to be atleast 3 feet wide.

Arches National Park is 4 miles north of Moab, UT. It is a smaller national park compared to others we have been to recently! Many of the attractions are accessible by road. It takes around 1 hour 45 minutes to get to the innermost point accessible by road.

We started our day earlier than the previous day. We reached the national park around 9:30 am. We stopped at the visitor center to inquire about Fiery Furnace guided hike again. No luck!

This time we did something different. We bought an audio CD for self-guided tour of the Arches National Park. It turned out to be great! We learned so much more and wasted less time in figuring out which arch is what!

Our first stop was Park Avenue Trail. This vista point provides some beautiful views of unique vertical sandstones! There was a 1 mile hike; however, we skipped it as we had other priorities in the park. This trail is called Park Avenue Trail as its sandstones give the feel of buildings of the big city. We took several pictures of Three Gossips and Courthouse Tower sandstones. On the way to our next stop, we had similar views of other rock formations.

Next, we drove to Petrified Sand Dunes. These sand dunes are also called Ancient Sand Dunes, as they are the remnants of ancient sand dunes that were blown here by winds some 200 million years ago.

Next stop: Balanced Rock. This rock formation gives an impression of a big rock balancing itself on another rock. However, it is attached to the other rock from its base.

Our next stop was Double Arch. This was the first arch we saw in the Arches National Park! This rock formation started as a pothole, and kept on enlarging the openings side by side. Today it looks like a double arch as the name suggests. We walked the 1-mile long trail and climbed the double arch. Along the way, took number of pictures including a panorama.

Very near from the Double Arch is the Windows trail. This trail gives you access to North Window, South Window, and Turret Arch. North Window is the first one on the trail. We are still not sure why is it called a window and not an arch… may be since it was more circular and didn’t have a proper base?? We visited North Window and South Window and took pictures of the Turret Arch from the North Window itself.

By the time we returned to our car, it was lunch time for us. There is no food available inside the national park. However, Moab is just 4 miles from the entrance. We drove to Subway in Moab. This subway must be one of the busiest Subways! When we reached there, they just have three 6” breads available and five tortillas! There was nothing left for the people who came in later! We had a nice lunch break of 45 minutes of so. I took a quick nap in the car while Mohnish drove to our next destination. It was long enough to revive ourselves. As you know, food + rest = happy Swar!

Next major stop was Fiery Furnace overlook. As I have mentioned before, we could not get a spot for this ranger-guided hike. After visiting the overview, we felt worse! Just looking at the formations from a distance was amazing! Well… there is always next time… atleast I wish…

Another short drive and we reached Sand Dune Arch. The name gave me an impression that the arch would be made of sand… duh… all of the arches are formations of sandstones! This arch is called Sand Dune Arch due to ample beach-like sand near the arch. This is the best place to take some rest! Surrounded by big rocks, provides plenty of shadow! A real fun place for kids! So many kids were playing in the sand! Not a good place to have you lunch though due to combination of wind and sand. Broken arch is located approx 0.5 miles away from the Sand Dune Arch. However, we just took the pictures from a distance as we wanted to make to the Delicate Arch before the sunset!

Quickly we drove to Devil’s Garden picnic area with couple of short photography stops including one at Skyline Arch. This is the north end of the road. Devil’s Garden is a trailhead to number of short to long hikes including Landscape Arch, Double-O-Arch, etc. The only campground inside the national park is accessible with a trail from Devil’s Garden. We chose to hike to Tunnel Arch, Pine Tree Arch, and Landscape Arch.

Landscape Arch is the longest arch (approximately 306 feet) known. In 1991, a 73-foot slab of this arch broke down, creating 180-ton of debris. Ever since, the trail that passed beneath it has been closed. Landscape Arch is considered to be over-matured arch.

Our last stop was Delicate Arch. Delicate Arch is the most famous arch of the national park. It has been accepted as the symbol for the state of Utah. Most of the vehicle number plates in Utah depict this arch. It is accessible through a 3 miles moderately strenuous hike with 600 feet elevation gain. The best time to visit it is at the sunset! Its trailhead is located just next to a log cabin - Wolfe Ranch, named after John Wolfe who settled here in later 1800s.

The hike was quite tiring but scenic! It is difficult to hike here during sunny afternoons as there are no shades along the way and it could be too hot! It’s perfect for a sunset time hike or a full-moon night hike. Don’t forget to carry plenty of water!

We literally ran to get there before the sunset! Last 15-20 minutes were the most difficult! That part is a primitive trail. There are some stones arranged to identify the trail. This seemingly never ending trail ended at the Delicate Arch. It is situated at an edge of a steep canyon. Snow covered La Sal mountains are visible behind the arch. It makes a picture perfect scene!

When we got there, others were already sitting there with their camera ready. Due to clouds, we were not going to experience a perfect sunset; however, it was not that bad. Sky was partly cloudy, so sun was coming out every now and then. Delicate Arch is facing east. It creates a picturesque view when sun rays are vanishing from the arch formation slowly due to the sunset on the other end! Everyone was there to capture this postcard picture. Some curious guy reached the Delicate Arch and was exploring it at his own pace while others were waiting to take its pictures without any obstacles. Soon, somebody lost the patience and shouted “Get out of there! Don’t be so selfish!” And, others joined him to boo him! Well, thank god he realized how serious others were and got out of there as fast as he could!

Return journey was not so bad. Although, all of us were really tired, we still had to drive to Salt Lake City the same evening!

We started for Salt Lake City around 9:30 pm, made a stop at Green River for dinner. Unfortunately, almost everything was closed! There was one 24 hours open restaurant, however, we decided to grab some quick food from a gas station and reach our final destination without a break.

To sum up, Arches National Park is truly a unique national park. If you try to cover it in a single day like us, you will have to rush through some of the things. Prioritize the places you want to visit. You can probably see everything from the overlooks; however, if you want to do one of the famous hikes (e.g., Delicate Arch hike or Fiery Furnace hike) you will have to spend atleast 3-4 hours for that. We wasted almost 1.5-2 hours for lunch as we had to go back to Moab. If you carry food with you, you might save a lot of time! Do a little research and find out what places are great to visit in the morning and what places are for the evening; plan accordingly. The self-guiding audio commentary CD was really helpful! Rent it or buy it from the visitor center.

We really felt that we needed one more day for the area. We could have done some of the adventurous activities like rock climbing or rappelling. We could also have visited Needles or Horseshoe Canyon District of Canyonlands National Park. We could also have done the Fiery Furnace and Double-O-Arch hikes!

If you are visiting:

How to get there:
• Arches National Park are approximately 4 hours south of Salt Lake City. Best bet would be to fly to SLC, rent a car and get to Moab!

Where to stay:
• Lots of B&Bs and Inns in Moab, UT; which is 25 miles south of
• Lots of Motels in Green River, UT; which is 60 miles north of Island in the sky.
• There are a few campsites inside the Canyonlands National Park.
• There are NO motels/hotels inside the national park!

Where to eat:
• Number of restaurants in Moab.
• NO FOOD AVAILABLE IN THE NATIONAL PARK! Plan ahead.

What to do:
• One day is not even enough for a complete experience; however, if planned properly, you can cover most of it with one or two of the major hiking attractions.
• Visit all the arches and overlooks accessible through the road.
• Short hikes/walks include North Window, South Window, Turret Arch, Double Arch, Sand Dunes Arch, Broken Arch, Pine Tree Arch, Tunnel Arch, Skyline Arch, etc.
• Moderately Strenuous hikes include Delicate Arch, Double-O-Arch, etc. I would strongly recommend Delicate Arch hike. Plan to get there around sunset time.
• Sign up for ranger guided fiery furnace hike at the visitor center. This hike will take around 2-3 hours atleast.
• There are number of guided off-road tours available around the area. We didn’t try any; however, I don’t think you can go wrong with them!

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Photos

Delicate Arch
One of the most famous Arches

Park Avenue Trail
Rock formations at Park Avenue Trail